Southern U.S. States Push to Reopen With Economic Pressure Rising

Southern Republican governors who were among the last to institute shelter-at-home orders are now pushing to become the first to lift them. Tattoo parlors, movie theaters and nail salons in Georgia will begin opening up this week along with beaches, florists and shoe shops in South Carolina.

The announcements came Monday afternoon after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp spent the weekend talking to his fellow Republican governors in the South about how best to restart their economies in response to guidelines issued last week by the White House.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said he was forming an “Accelerate South Carolina” task force to look at quickly and safely opening up the state’s economy. “We must be ready to stomp on the gas when the green light comes up,” McMaster said. Retailers were allowed to reopen at 5 p.m. Monday as long as they enforce social-distancing requirements.

Coming just four days after President Donald Trump issued the guidelines, the announcements raised questions about whether the states were moving too quickly. Dr. Deborah Birx, the U.S. State Department immunologist and one of Trump’s top medical advisers, said Monday evening that it was up to governors to determine whether they are meeting the criteria set by the White House last Thursday.

“We have asked every governor to follow the guidelines, just as we’ve asked every American to follow the guidelines,” she said. “But each of the governors can decide for themselves whether they’ve reached specific guidelines in specific areas.”

At a news briefing in Atlanta, Kemp said the state was opening “in the same way that we carefully closed” on April 1, which was about three weeks after many other states issued their shelter-at-home orders. He said the decision to allow the reopening of many businesses on Friday comes as new data suggest Georgia’s outbreak may have plateaued.

Kemp said COVID-19 emergencies had declined and that new diagnoses “appear to have flattened.” He also detailed efforts to expand testing and screening of potential infections, including a mobile app developed by Augusta University that will allow any Georgian to input their symptoms and get approval for a test if needed.

The reopened businesses will have to comply with social distancing and other measures. “I think our citizens are ready for this,” Kemp said. “People know what social distancing is.”

The White House Coronavirus Task Force last week issued recommendations for states to meet prior to a phased reopening. These include proof of decreasing signs of illness among residents, a health-care system capable of keeping up with demand, and either a downward trajectory of documented cases in a 14-day period or a downward trajectory in positive cases, as a percentage of total cases, in that same period -- with the volume of tests either staying flat or increasing.

Public-health experts say all of these conditions should be met before a state considers reopening.

With the virus still spreading across the country, states would be hard-pressed to meet all of these criteria. But because they are only recommendations, not requirements, states can proceed with reopening their economies.

In Georgia, the public health department reports a peak of 811 confirmed cases on April 6. Cases show a downward trajectory since then, though April 14 came close to the peak with 779 confirmed cases. A decrease of 32 cases is still a decrease, but not one which would necessarily leave public-health experts feeling confident in a state’s ability to reopen.

The state’s public-health department referred questions to the governor’s office, which declined to comment further on whether the state meets the White House Task Force criteria.

South Carolina appears to also be on a downward trajectory, but the state’s public-health department releases weekly numbers, rather than daily. There has been a drop off since the week ending in April 11, but it is unclear if that proves a consistent 14-day downward trajectory in daily cases. The state’s public health and governor’s offices did not reply to requests for comment.

In Tennessee, the state has seen 17 consecutive days of single-digit percentage increases in the number of cases, said Laine Arnold, a spokesperson for the governor’s office. “We continue to work closely with the White House for a phased reopening approach,” Arnold said, adding that the state has been aggressive on testing and reported lower hospitalization rates than the national average.

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